Blog

Published January 21, 2018

NAFTA Position Statement

The NAFTA negotiations present a unique opportunity to recalibrate government policy as it relates to the access and affordability of pharmaceuticals across North America. From our perspective, a successful renegotiation would strike an appropriate balance between intellectual property protections for new products and timely access to quality, affordable generic medicines and biosimilars for all patients. To that end, we are working in partnership with our North American industry trade associations to advocate for the inclusion of a legislative and regulatory framework that will achieve this objective. Attached for your information is a letter from the US, Canadian, and Mexican generic associations to their respective government trade officials regarding these issues.

Our chief concern centers on the possibility that a failure of the renegotiation will lead to a US decision to withdraw from NAFTA altogether. Apotex is working in partnership with our trade associations in the US, Canada, and Mexico to support the larger efforts of industries across North America seeking to prevent that from occurring. As these advocacy efforts continue, we are simultaneously evaluating what the ramifications would be from a decision by the US to withdraw from NAFTA, and what options would be available to mitigate any negative impact to our business stemming from such a decision.